Trump warned of jail by judge after $9k contempt fine

Donald Trump has been held in contempt of court and fined $9,000 (£7,100) for repeatedly violating a gag order that barred him from making public statements about witnesses, jurors and some others connected to his New York hush money case.

And if he does it again, the judge warned yesterday, he could be jailed.

Prosecutors had alleged 10 violations, but New York Judge Juan M Merchan found there were nine.

Trump stared down at the table in front of him as the judge read the ruling yesterday, frowning slightly.

The ruling was a stinging rebuke of the Republican former president’s insistence that he was exercising his free speech rights and a reminder that he is a criminal defendant subject to the harsh realities of trial procedure.

The judge’s suggestion that he may jail the former president signalled that Trump’s already precarious legal standing could be further diminished depending on his behaviour during the trial.

Judge Merchan wrote that he was “keenly aware of, and protective of,” Trump’s First Amendment rights, “particularly given his candidacy for the office of president of the United States”.

“It is critically important that defendant’s legitimate free speech rights not be curtailed, that he be able to fully campaign for the office which he seeks and that he be able to respond and defend himself against political attacks,” he wrote.

Still, he warned that the court would not tolerate “wilful violations of its lawful orders and that if necessary and appropriate under the circumstances, it will impose an incarceratory punishment”.

With that statement, he drew nearer the spectre of Trump becoming the first former president behind bars. Trump is used to having constant access to his social media platform to attack opponents and speak his mind. After he was banned from Twitter following the January 6 2021 attack on the Capitol, he launched his own platform, where his posts would not be blocked or restricted.

He has long tried to distance himself from controversial messages he has amplified to his millions of followers by insisting they are “only retweets”. But he does have experience with gag orders, which were also imposed in his civil fraud trial. After he was found to have violated those orders, he paid more than $15,000 (£11,900) in fines.

Yesterday’s ruling came at the start of the second week of testimony in the historic case, in which Manhattan prosecutors argue Trump and his associates took part in an illegal scheme to influence the 2016 presidential campaign by purchasing and then burying negative stories.

The payouts went to a doorman with a torrid yarn, to former Playboy model Karen McDougal who had accusations of an affair, and to porn performer Stormy Daniels who alleged a sexual encounter with Trump.

He has pleaded not guilty and claims the stories are all fake.

Trump was ordered to pay the gag-order fine by the close of business on Friday and remove seven offending posts from his Truth Social account and two from his campaign website by yesterday afternoon.

The judge is also weighing other alleged gagorder violations by Trump and will hear arguments tomorrow.

He also announced that he will halt the trial on May 17 to allow Trump to attend his son Barron’s high school graduation.

REBUKED: Donald Trump’s trial is entering its third week on charges he allegedly falsified business records to cover up a sex scandal during the 2016 presidential campaign.